mientrant
Gate 300
In collaboration with the 300-year-old Bodhi of Văn Miếu
Nov 2021 - Mar 2022
Embroidery with found leaf skeleton, monofilament yarn.
300 x 400 cm
Temple of Literature: Văn Miếu - Quốc Tử Giám
Thanks to the absence of tourists for almost 2 years, the 300-year-old Bodhi in the oldest university had time to let its leaves fall, and naturally, turn into skeletons with numerous shades of brown on its ground.
Nearby the tree, there is Khue Van Cac - Constellation of Literature pavilion with open-air circles on all sides of the top floor. These hollow circles represent the road of knowledge that has no end and can come from various directions.
Hence, I built my circle gate with the skeleton leaves of this accent creature who definitely witnessed many changes in the past 300 years to invite others to explore the vast potential of this historical site as it was originally built to encourage Vietnamese students to expand their knowledge and abilities.
The moment the main gate opened to the public, my unfinished gate had been closed. The gate that the Bohdi tree and I spent months collecting leaf
skeletons, and embroidering one by one together has been taken down,
smothered away by humans. People rushed in as they were waiting after a long time for their daily mundane needs to exercise, take photos and pray in the Temple.